Still not ready for lifestyle audits

THE government’s moves to institute lifestyle audits on public servants are seemingly far from taking place as the Ethics Enforcement Unit within the Department of Public Service and Administration is still being staffed.

This emerged in a written response from Public Service and Administration Minister Senzo Mchunu to a parliamentary question from the DA’s Leon Schreiber.

Schreiber had asked if the Public Service and Administration Department planned to conduct lifestyle audits of Cabinet members and directors-general.

Schreiber also asked about the department’s readiness to conduct lifestyle audits and asked for the terms of reference of the planned audits to be revealed.

Since coming into office, President Cyril Ramaphosa undertook to tackle corruption and state capture, saying they would conduct lifestyle audits of all people who occupied positions of responsibility, starting with the Cabinet.

In August last year, the National Assembly heard that Ramaphosa established a technical team under the leadership of the director-general in the Presidency to explore options to conduct of lifestyle audits.

In his written response, Mchunu said his department was still forging ahead with setting up an Ethics Enforcement Unit to conduct audits.

Mchunu also said his department was not mandated to conduct lifestyle audits on members of the executive.

“The newly established Public Administration Ethics, Integrity and Disciplinary Technical Assistance Unit, called the Ethics Enforcement Unit, is to conduct ethics profiles, which include lifestyle audit, and includes all employees in the public administration, including directors-general.”

Mchunu also said the unit was being incubated in his department with efforts under way to fund and staff it properly through internal reorganisation.“The first phase will commence from September 1 and will include lifestyle audits as a function.”

He also said the unit has identified lifestyle as its priority. “To this effect, the unit has drafted a framework for conducting lifestyle audits. It will be presented for approval to the Minister of Public Service and Administration… As soon as this is finalised, it will be announced,” Mchunu said.

Two weeks ago, he told the Assembly during his Budget vote speech that they would continue with the work of establishing the ethics enforcement unit, including finalising its location in the department’s organogram.

The first phase will commence from September 1 and will include lifestyle audits Senzo Mchunu Public Service and Administration Minister